British expats frustrated in America

British expats in the United States of America are becoming increasingly annoyed by the length of time Washington is taking to process passports.

Due to a recent spike in activity, The British Embassy in Washington is taking a considerable amount of time to process the passports of North America-living Brits who want to leave the country, leaving many expats in a bind.

British expats in America who wish to travel out of the country have to first apply via the Embassy. Usually this process takes within four weeks, although a recent flurry of activity has led a severe backlog- causing extreme frustration for stranded expats.

In fact, expats are complaining that the delay is taking up to four months, an immense length of time that is leaving holiday plans and business meetings in ruins.

In a bid to rectify this situation British expat in America Stephen Kemp has created an online petition that he hopes will force a government investigation. Mr Kemp told The Telegraph: “You have people with sick or dying relatives, people trying to start new jobs, and business people trying to travel, who thought they had time to get a simple renewal. Four weeks is ample time to process; four months is mismanagement.”

While there is a special Emergency Travel Document that can sometimes be obtained for swift travel, Kemp added that this was not always a feasible solution: “It’s fine if you want to pay the addtional $157 on top of what you already spent for your passport, but on top of that you need to do it in person, and not everyone is within distance of an embassy,” he said.